A BILL to amend and reenact section eight, article sixteen, chapter
eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, relating to increasing the distance
that a beer licensee must be located from a school or church
from three hundred to one thousand feet.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:That section eight, article sixteen, chapter eleven of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:

ARTICLE 16. NONINTOXICATING BEER.

§11-16-8. Form of application for license; fee and bond; refusal
of license.

(a) A license may be issued by the commissioner to any person
who submits an application therefor, accompanied by a license fee,
and, where required, a bond, stating under oath:(1) The name and residence of the applicant, the duration of
suchthe residency, that the applicant has been a resident of the
state for a period of two years next preceding the date of the
application and that the applicant is twenty-one years of age. If
the applicant is a firm, association, partnership, limited
partnership or corporation, the application shall include the
residence of the members or officers for a period of two years next
preceding the date of suchthe application: Provided, That if any
person, firm, partnership, limited partnership, association or
corporation applies for a license as a distributor, such person, or
in the case of a firm, partnership, limited partnership or
association, the members or officers thereof shall state under oath
that each has been a bona fide resident of the state for four years
preceding the date of suchthe application;(2) The place of birth of applicant, that he or she is a
citizen of the United States and of good moral character and, if a
naturalized citizen, when and where naturalized; and, if a
corporation organized or authorized to do business under the laws
of the state, when and where incorporated, with the name and
address of each officer; that each officer is a citizen of the
United States and a person of good moral character; and if a firm,
association, partnership or limited partnership, the place of birth
of each member of the firm, association, partnership or limited
partnership, and that each member is a citizen of the United States and if a naturalized citizen, when and where naturalized, each of
whom must qualify and sign the application: Provided, That the
requirements as to residence shall not apply to the officers of a
corporation which shall apply for a retailer's license, but the
officers, agent or employee who shall manage and be in charge of
the licensed premises shall possess all of the qualifications
required of an individual applicant for a retailer's license,
including the requirement as to residence;(3) The particular place for which the license is desired and
a detailed description thereof;(4) The name of the owner of the building and, if the owner is
not the applicant, that suchthe applicant is the actual and bona
fide lessee of the premises;(5) That the place or building in which is proposed to do
business conforms to all laws of health, fire and zoning
regulations applicable thereto, and is a safe and proper place or
building, and is not within three hundredone thousand feet of any
school or church, measured from front door to front door, along the
street or streets: Provided, That this requirement shall not apply
to a Class B license, or to any place now occupied by a beer
licensee, so long as it is continuously so occupied: Provided,
however, That the prohibition against locating any such proposed
business in a place or building within three hundredone thousand
feet of any school shalldoes not apply to any college or university that has notified the commissioner, in writing, that it
has no objection to the location of any such proposed business in
a place or building within three hundredone thousand feet of such
the college or university;(6) That the applicant is not incarcerated and has not during
the five years immediately preceding the date of saidthe
application been convicted of a felony;(7) That the applicant is the only person in any manner
pecuniarily interested in the business so asked to be licensed, and
that no other person shall be in any manner pecuniarily interested
therein during the continuance of the license; and(8) That the applicant has not during five years next
immediately preceding the date of saidthe application had a
nonintoxicating beer license revoked.(b) The provisions and requirements of subsection (a) of this
section are mandatory prerequisites for the issuance, and in the
event any applicant fails to qualify under the same, license shall
be refused. In addition to the information furnished in any
application, the commissioner may make such additional and
independent investigation of each applicant, and of the place to be
occupied, as deemedconsidered necessary or advisable; and for this
reason each and all applications, with license fee and bond, must
be filed thirty days prior to the beginning of any fiscal year, and
if application is for an unexpired portion of any fiscal year, issuance of license may be withheld for sucha reasonable time as
necessary for investigation.(c) The commissioner may refuse a license to any applicant
under the provisions of this article if the commissioner shall be
of the opinion:(1) That the applicant is not a suitable person to be
licensed;(2) That the place to be occupied by the applicant is not a
suitable place; or is within three hundredone thousand feet of any
school or church, measured from front door to front door along the
street or streets: Provided, That this requirement shall not
apply to a Class B licensee, or to any place now occupied by a beer
licensee, so long as it is continuously so occupied: Provided,
however, That the prohibition against locating any such place to be
occupied by an applicant within three hundredone thousand feet of
any school shalldoes not apply to any college or university that
has notified the commissioner, in writing, that it has no objection
to the location of any such place within three hundredone thousand
feet of suchthe college or university; or(3) That the license should not be issued for reason of
conduct declared to be unlawful by this article.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the distance
that a beer licensee must be located from a school or church from
three hundred to one thousand feet.Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.